Game Day: Montreal Canadiens at Calgary Flames

Joey MacDonald will start between the pipes for the Flames against Montreal on Wednesday night.Photo by
Colleen De Neve

Wednesday

Montreal Canadiens (1-1-0) at Calgary Flames (1-0-2)

6 p.m., Scotiabank Saddledome

The FAN 960, TSN/RDS

THE FLAMES

Keep an eye on

G Joey MacDonald — This will be the veteran netminder’s third start of the year and in head coach Bob Hartley’s eyes, he’s earned it. Dealing with the Sedins on Sunday night, MacDonald made some brilliant saves and has a chance to keep up the consistency. Whether he’ll be the starting netminder in a few weeks, it’s tough to say but, at the moment, his veteran savvy ways are certainly coming in handy.

The Lines

*C. Glencross- B. Street-D. Jones

*S. Baertschi-S. Monahan-L. Stempniak

*T. Galiardi-M. Backlund-J. Hudler

*L. Bouma-J. Colborne-B. McGrattan

The Pairings

*M. Giordano-T. Brodie

*K. Russell-D. Wideman

*C. Butler-S.O’Brien

The Goalies

*J. MacDonald

*K. Ramo

The Injuries

*C Matt Stajan (deep leg contusion)

*LW Michael Cammalleri (hand)

THE CANADIENS

Keep an eye on

C Lars Eller — A dominant force for the Habs early in this 2013-14 campaign. The NHL’s second star of the week with three goals and two assists through the first two games of the season. The big, talented, smooth-skating pivot will provide a challenge for a set of inexperienced Flames centres.

Flames head coach Bob Hartley called it a “gut feeling,” naming veteran netminder Joey MacDonald his starter for Wednesday’s game against the visiting Montreal Canadiens.

MacDonald turned aside 23 of 28 shots in Sunday’s 5-4 home opening overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks. He was also in net for Calgary’s 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. So far, his stat-line is 1-0-1 with eight goals against, a goals-against average of 3.94, and a save percentage of .867. Over the weekend, Hartley named MacDonald his starter on Sunday because of the way he performed in Friday’s game. On Tuesday, he felt MacDonald had earned another start. But that could change after Wednesday’s game.

“We feel Mac deserves to play but that story can change quickly,” he said. “It’s nothing against Karri Ramo. Right now, it’s what we see from Joey MacDonald.”

Ramo, who shone in the team’s pre-season, was in net for the team’s NHL opener on the road which was a 5-4 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals where he stopped 35 of 39 shots.

2. NOT HABBY

The west has not been kind to the Montreal Canadiens. Since the 1998-99 season, the Habs have played a total of 30 games in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary and have posted a record of eight wins, 18 losses, two ties, and two overtime losses. At the Scotiabank Saddledome, where they’ll visit Wednesday night, they’ve had the worst luck — not winning a game since a 4-2 decision back on Jan. 5, 2002 — and have an all-time record of 26-20-7-1 in Calgary. “There’s nothing we can do about the past, the most important thing is the present,” said Montreal head coach Michel Therrien. “(The Saddledome) is a tough place to play.”

3. EGG-CITING TRIO

People love acronyms, especially when it comes to hockey lines. But the Canadiens’ trio of Lars Eller, Brendan Gallagher, and Alex Galchenyuk would rather not have their recent nickname gain any traction — the EGG line. No thank-you, says Gallagher. “I think the EGG line sucks,” said the 21-year-old earlier this week. “What does that even mean?” That being said, the line has given Habs fans a reason to take a liking to them, given they’ve scored five of the team’s seven goals in two games this season. They complement each other well — the crafty Galchenyuk, the gritty Gallagher, and, so far, the red-hot Eller. So, who cares what people call them.

4. BIG MILESTONE

Wednesday will be former Flame Rene Bourque’s 500th NHL career hockey game. Which, for the Lac La Biche, Alta., native who has been in the league for nine seasons (three and a half in Calgary), is hard to believe. “I feel like I’ve been playing a long time and I should have more than that, but I’ve been hurt so damn much,” Bourque was saying on Tuesday, chuckling. “It’s kind of fitting to have it here. To me, I think 1,000 is where I’d like to get, but that might be tough to get to at my age. It’s just nice to be back here. I spent three years here and it’s nice to see familiar faces again.”

5. ODDS AGAINST COACH

According to the sports betting side Bodog.ca, Hartley has the highest odds to be the second coach fired in the 2013-14 season. He’s tops on the list with 2/1 odds along with Carolina’s Kirk Muller (5/2), Minnesota’s Mike Yeo (7/2), Winnipeg’s Claude Noel (4/1), Florida’s Kevin Dineen (13/2), and New Jersey’s Peter DeBoer (13/2). “I didn’t read this,” Hartley said. “I’m not a computer guy and I don’t waste time with this. Obviously, we’re in the business where we know the risk from Day 1. People that have been around me, I’m scared of lots of things, but I’ve never been scared of being fired. I’ve always been the same guy. It’s not a rumour or a report that’s going to change me.”

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